Today, for the 1st time drove around Mexico in the TT. Love the track.

Tried most of the historic cars. The 2004 Ferrari F2004 seems to be the fastest when using the default fastest setup. 2006 Renault R262007 Ferrari F2007, 2008 McLaren MP4-23 & 2010 Red Bull RB6 cars couldn't match with the Ferrari's time with the lowest downforce setup.

Today, for the 1st time drove around Mexico in the TT. Love the track.

Tried most of the historic cars. The 2004 Ferrari F2004 seems to be the fastest when using the default fastest setup. 2006 Renault R262007 Ferrari F2007, 2008 McLaren MP4-23 & 2010 Red Bull RB6 cars couldn't match with the Ferrari's time with the lowest downforce setup.

The F2004 is easily the fastest classic car, you see it top the leaderboards pretty much everywhere and it's not hard to see why when you drive it. I think the Red Bull is fastest around Monaco though.

That's the way it should be of course as the 2004 cars were the fastest before this year.

Finally did my first career mode race, pretty good, I think I have the difficulty just about right as I was only able to compete with my teammate and the McLarens (I'm in Sauber). Also I didn't notice any massive advantage in qualifying that the AI had, I felt qualifying to race performance was pretty much in line, but it's early days yet.

I'm also pretty certain I'm not going to be able to get through the season without a grid penalty after seeing the wear!

- The steering feel is much better for me; not vague or floaty at all, and you can really feel what the car is doing- Force Feedback is much stronger than 2016; I felt like I'd been to the gym after a half hour on my 2016 settings!- The cars are very nice to drive; the grip is amazing, and the thing that I noticed immediately was that braking distances are shorter (I did Barcelona, and I've always braked right at the 100m board; that's too early now)- No comment on graphics, because my racing rig uses an old TV and doesn't run on full settings anyway- I haven't played around the the telemetry-over-IP function; does anyone know how that works?

My first half hour also showed that I'm pretty darned rusty, so more practice is definitely in order!

By the way for those interested the racing in the e-sports league has been top class, there are 3 leagues going on (Xbox, PS, PC) and you can watch them all here once they've happened live, the leagues are also only 3 races each so you don't have to commit to watching a full 20 race season:

havent seen any mention of it on pf1 so here goes. I stumbled on to this,

There's an esports league for the f1 2017 game. You register and quailfy by doing in game events. If any one is interested here is the link https://f1esports.com/

Idk if it was a last min idea but if this was advertised along side with the game on tv during races it would have gotten more people to buy the game.

Those lap times are impressive. In the tracks I've mastered I can hang with the top guys but without assists, the controller R2 button doesn't give me the tactile feedback to throttle the acceleration like a foot pedal can. You can't even get the perfect start so it's a bit of a joke. Otherwise the controller is just as good. Unfortunately throttling the acceleration costs 2+ seconds a lap compared to a proper pedal

I've been trying to play it on a wheel with all settings off and holy crap is it difficult. The highest AI level at which I managed to complete the recent esports qualifier was 50, and even that took me multiple attempts. I'm always too eager on the throttle or too optimistic with my braking and, one way or the other, end up facing backwards. On one hand I'm really determined to get better at playing it this way, but on the other hand I'm not sure I have the spare time to actually do so, and might be better reverting back to using a pad...

havent seen any mention of it on pf1 so here goes. I stumbled on to this,

There's an esports league for the f1 2017 game. You register and quailfy by doing in game events. If any one is interested here is the link https://f1esports.com/

Idk if it was a last min idea but if this was advertised along side with the game on tv during races it would have gotten more people to buy the game.

Those lap times are impressive. In the tracks I've mastered I can hang with the top guys but without assists, the controller R2 button doesn't give me the tactile feedback to throttle the acceleration like a foot pedal can. You can't even get the perfect start so it's a bit of a joke. Otherwise the controller is just as good. Unfortunately throttling the acceleration costs 2+ seconds a lap compared to a proper pedal

Try switching your throttle to the right analog stick. Stick up Throttle and down for the brakes. Thats my set up for racing gives much better feel using controller

havent seen any mention of it on pf1 so here goes. I stumbled on to this,

There's an esports league for the f1 2017 game. You register and quailfy by doing in game events. If any one is interested here is the link https://f1esports.com/

Idk if it was a last min idea but if this was advertised along side with the game on tv during races it would have gotten more people to buy the game.

Those lap times are impressive. In the tracks I've mastered I can hang with the top guys but without assists, the controller R2 button doesn't give me the tactile feedback to throttle the acceleration like a foot pedal can. You can't even get the perfect start so it's a bit of a joke. Otherwise the controller is just as good. Unfortunately throttling the acceleration costs 2+ seconds a lap compared to a proper pedal

Try switching your throttle to the right analog stick. Stick up Throttle and down for the brakes. Thats my set up for racing gives much better feel using controller

I never even thought of that goddammit, I'm struggling to bridge that last couple of seconds as well and I was convinced it's because I can't feed the throttle properly with my finger and trigger button like Bentrovato says.

Cheers for the tip. Could I change the trigger buttons to be the gear change then?. I use auto on the controller because I can't stand using the buttons but If I'm using the right analog stick for both braking and throttle then I think using the triggers as gear up and down wouldn't bother me in the least.

I'm on 2016 though and use assists like a ho, do ok, get a time usually around the 2500-3500 mark on the leaderboard on time trial but in Monza I got 1100 with a 1.21.9 I think and Monaco which I hate about 1600, no idea how but I think it was about 1.13.9. Don't think I broke 1.15 on any other lap, I've got no consistency around there at all, nightmare.

(The leaderboard says 10000 so I've no idea if it's in groups and there's another 10000 above or that's the top 10000. I'm an idiot that can't be bothered to check. )

_________________"Clark came through at the end of the first lap so far ahead that we in the pits were convinced that the rest of the field must have been wiped out in an accident."-Eddie Dennis, describing the dominance of Jim Clark in the Lotus 49 at Spa 1967

Try switching your throttle to the right analog stick. Stick up Throttle and down for the brakes. Thats my set up for racing gives much better feel using controller

Great idea!! Gonna give it a try

Here's a video of one of the quickest pad racers on AOR demonstrating how to use that technique:

It gives me a headache just thinking about it, but he can beat most of the wheel racers, so there's something in it for sure!

Nice vid.

The main issue with me when using the controller is that I need to keep adjusting the left trigger (for turning) while making a turn in the corner. A steering wheel user will always have a smooth entry but for a controller user, minor adjustments / shakes will always be required to make the turn as smooth as possible.

This is the area I believe I always lose a lot of time when compared to a wheel user.

Try switching your throttle to the right analog stick. Stick up Throttle and down for the brakes. Thats my set up for racing gives much better feel using controller

Great idea!! Gonna give it a try

Here's a video of one of the quickest pad racers on AOR demonstrating how to use that technique:

It gives me a headache just thinking about it, but he can beat most of the wheel racers, so there's something in it for sure!

Nice vid.

The main issue with me when using the controller is that I need to keep adjusting the left trigger (for turning) while making a turn in the corner. A steering wheel user will always have a smooth entry but for a controller user, minor adjustments / shakes will always be required to make the turn as smooth as possible.

This is the area I believe I always lose a lot of time when compared to a wheel user.

@ Bentrovato, Ive been using Analog throttle for years and to me a makes a huge difference. You can apply throttle as needed throughout the corners. The triggers just simply give you on/off while the analog stick you can apply partial throttle as needed. I use the triggers for shifting.

@ Exediron, nice vid. The button config he uses is very similar to mine and as u see in the video you need alot of dexterity for sure. Its alot of buttons when your trying to make car adjustments mid race.

@ UnlikeUday, yes the wheel definitely has a smoother corner entry and on controller we have to make small adjustments. Making diff adjustments for certain corners helps smoothing out the turns but its a tough balance when trying to stretch out a stint on tires. Thats where steering rigs have a much better advantage where they can preserve the front tires vs controller.

@Mayhem, I've been using a wired Xbox 360 controller and I've found the triggers better for fine throttle control than the analog sticks on my Logitech ( PS style ) controller. The only problem I have is I cannot drive manual using the Xbox controller as my fingers clash using the triggers for throttle/brake and using the bumpers for gear shifts.

_________________Any and all opinions are my own, they do not reflect the opinions of the FIA, FOM, Teams, Drivers, PlanetF1, Phase of the Moon, Rotation of the Earth or Aliens.

Yeah I tried it too and in the 3rd corner I went flying straight on as I frantically pressed the LT to no avail. That only happened a further 6 or 7 times before I raged quit.

Work to do...

_________________"Clark came through at the end of the first lap so far ahead that we in the pits were convinced that the rest of the field must have been wiped out in an accident."-Eddie Dennis, describing the dominance of Jim Clark in the Lotus 49 at Spa 1967

I tried it today and obviously I was horrible. I'll need t practice to give it a fair shake.

If you're using the right analog for acceleration which buttons do you use for looking around the car?

Lotus49 wrote:

Yeah I tried it too and in the 3rd corner I went flying straight on as I frantically pressed the LT to no avail. That only happened a further 6 or 7 times before I raged quit.

Work to do...

I dont race in the fp camera view since you dont have peripheral vision, (hopefully when they integrate vr with more games they will give us better field of vision.) So I use the tv pod camera angle and use the mirrors which actually work pretty good when you adjust the angle of the mirrors in the options settings.

I would recommend using the racing line aid corners only until you get a feel for it so you dont RQ.

I never even thought of that goddammit, I'm struggling to bridge that last couple of seconds as well and I was convinced it's because I can't feed the throttle properly with my finger and trigger button like Bentrovato says.

Cheers for the tip. Could I change the trigger buttons to be the gear change then?. I use auto on the controller because I can't stand using the buttons but If I'm using the right analog stick for both braking and throttle then I think using the triggers as gear up and down wouldn't bother me in the least.

I'm on 2016 though and use assists like a ho, do ok, get a time usually around the 2500-3500 mark on the leaderboard on time trial but in Monza I got 1100 with a 1.21.9 I think and Monaco which I hate about 1600, no idea how but I think it was about 1.13.9. Don't think I broke 1.15 on any other lap, I've got no consistency around there at all, nightmare.

(The leaderboard says 10000 so I've no idea if it's in groups and there's another 10000 above or that's the top 10000. I'm an idiot that can't be bothered to check. )

Hey lotus, i missed this post some how.... Yes you can make the controls whatever buttons you wish by selecting "custom" on the controller scheme option. I use the triggers for shifting and use the "manual & suggested gear" setting ( its manual input but shows u a recommended gear for every corner. Doesnt shift for you just suggest what gear to use. Appears in red on the screen next to the gear your currently in.)

***** tip**** if you go into advanced wheel settings you can see your throttle/ braking/ steering inputs on the controller. (Eg; If you feel you want more throttle with less stick input increase the throttle saturation)

_________________"Clark came through at the end of the first lap so far ahead that we in the pits were convinced that the rest of the field must have been wiped out in an accident."-Eddie Dennis, describing the dominance of Jim Clark in the Lotus 49 at Spa 1967

@Mayhem, I've been using a wired Xbox 360 controller and I've found the triggers better for fine throttle control than the analog sticks on my Logitech ( PS style ) controller. The only problem I have is I cannot drive manual using the Xbox controller as my fingers clash using the triggers for throttle/brake and using the bumpers for gear shifts.

Hey jason, every controller has different calibrations (ps vs xbox vs pc), imo the analog throttle gives me better throttle control especially in wet races where you have to constantly feather it. I know exactly what you mean with your fingers clashing. ( When i used the triggers for throttle i made the right analog stick my shifter and for me that solved the issue your having.) Also if your having trouble finding the proper feel with the throttle play around in the advanced wheel options. It has controller inputs and you can see exactly how much pressure your inputing on the dpad. You can also delay the inputs if your cooking the tires. Hope this helps.

Also if your having trouble finding the proper feel with the throttle play around in the advanced wheel options. It has controller inputs and you can see exactly how much pressure your inputing on the dpad. You can also delay the inputs if your cooking the tires. Hope this helps.

Thats a good point, I tend to ' max ' throttle on a stick, if I make the input more linear it may work pretty good, I'll have to try it! Cheers!

_________________Any and all opinions are my own, they do not reflect the opinions of the FIA, FOM, Teams, Drivers, PlanetF1, Phase of the Moon, Rotation of the Earth or Aliens.

Yeah I'm struggling too but I can definitely see/feel where it's worth it on certain parts of the track and in particular the wet so I'm going to keep practicing every now and then but I'm struggling to get within 1.5s of my best times with the other set up so I reverted to be honest.

_________________"Clark came through at the end of the first lap so far ahead that we in the pits were convinced that the rest of the field must have been wiped out in an accident."-Eddie Dennis, describing the dominance of Jim Clark in the Lotus 49 at Spa 1967

Played the event where I'm in Hulk's Renault at Malaysia & it starts to dry up after rain in the beginning.

I'm using a setup found on Youtube. The car is quite stable in the rain & I usually made ground in the 2nd sector. But in 1 & 3rd sectors, the AI cars should streak past by me. Even if I've got DRS & the AI car behind me hasn't got DRS, it still passes swiftly by me. This is so baffling. Because of the rain, am using medium TC & auto gears as I'm using a controller.

Can anyone suggest / guide as to why all AI cars have superior speed & traction when on a straight inspite of my DRS being open? Will be quite obliged. I'm suffering with this issue since a long time.

Played the event where I'm in Hulk's Renault at Malaysia & it starts to dry up after rain in the beginning.

I'm using a setup found on Youtube. The car is quite stable in the rain & I usually made ground in the 2nd sector. But in 1 & 3rd sectors, the AI cars should streak past by me. Even if I've got DRS & the AI car behind me hasn't got DRS, it still passes swiftly by me. This is so baffling. Because of the rain, am using medium TC & auto gears as I'm using a controller.

Can anyone suggest / guide as to why all AI cars have superior speed & traction when on a straight inspite of my DRS being open? Will be quite obliged. I'm suffering with this issue since a long time.

Youtube has saved me a lot of time with regards to setups. There are definitely a couple of channels that will get you a good baseline setup for each race (I tend to just copy them and not make any changes).

This is my thing about these Codemasters F1 games: They're not bad but I think that the career mode is a bit too simplistic. I would love to see and F1 game that includes a real career in which you start off in feeder series (or karts like in PC2) and have to earn your super license like in real life. With the FIA buying GP2 and converting it to F2 and with the coming merger of GP3 and the F3 Euroseries, I think you could easily create this. Just have karting, F3 and F2. That's all you would really need. It would be even better if they bought up a few other series like some of the Formula Renault categories and such but it would not be necessary. The ability to actually simulate a real career is desperately missing. This is actually a pet peeve of mine with racing games in general.

In terms of racing online; I've seen worse. Online racing has been a source of frustration for me at times with these games because there are so many unsafe drivers but I've also had some good experiences.

Played the event where I'm in Hulk's Renault at Malaysia & it starts to dry up after rain in the beginning.

I'm using a setup found on Youtube. The car is quite stable in the rain & I usually made ground in the 2nd sector. But in 1 & 3rd sectors, the AI cars should streak past by me. Even if I've got DRS & the AI car behind me hasn't got DRS, it still passes swiftly by me. This is so baffling. Because of the rain, am using medium TC & auto gears as I'm using a controller.

Can anyone suggest / guide as to why all AI cars have superior speed & traction when on a straight inspite of my DRS being open? Will be quite obliged. I'm suffering with this issue since a long time.

Youtube has saved me a lot of time with regards to setups. There are definitely a couple of channels that will get you a good baseline setup for each race (I tend to just copy them and not make any changes).

This is my thing about these Codemasters F1 games: They're not bad but I think that the career mode is a bit too simplistic. I would love to see and F1 game that includes a real career in which you start off in feeder series (or karts like in PC2) and have to earn your super license like in real life. With the FIA buying GP2 and converting it to F2 and with the coming merger of GP3 and the F3 Euroseries, I think you could easily create this. Just have karting, F3 and F2. That's all you would really need. It would be even better if they bought up a few other series like some of the Formula Renault categories and such but it would not be necessary. The ability to actually simulate a real career is desperately missing. This is actually a pet peeve of mine with racing games in general.

In terms of racing online; I've seen worse. Online racing has been a source of frustration for me at times with these games because there are so many unsafe drivers but I've also had some good experiences.

Setups were not the issue. I found the main issue - controller calibration.

Played the event where I'm in Hulk's Renault at Malaysia & it starts to dry up after rain in the beginning.

I'm using a setup found on Youtube. The car is quite stable in the rain & I usually made ground in the 2nd sector. But in 1 & 3rd sectors, the AI cars should streak past by me. Even if I've got DRS & the AI car behind me hasn't got DRS, it still passes swiftly by me. This is so baffling. Because of the rain, am using medium TC & auto gears as I'm using a controller.

Can anyone suggest / guide as to why all AI cars have superior speed & traction when on a straight inspite of my DRS being open? Will be quite obliged. I'm suffering with this issue since a long time.

Youtube has saved me a lot of time with regards to setups. There are definitely a couple of channels that will get you a good baseline setup for each race (I tend to just copy them and not make any changes).

This is my thing about these Codemasters F1 games: They're not bad but I think that the career mode is a bit too simplistic. I would love to see and F1 game that includes a real career in which you start off in feeder series (or karts like in PC2) and have to earn your super license like in real life. With the FIA buying GP2 and converting it to F2 and with the coming merger of GP3 and the F3 Euroseries, I think you could easily create this. Just have karting, F3 and F2. That's all you would really need. It would be even better if they bought up a few other series like some of the Formula Renault categories and such but it would not be necessary. The ability to actually simulate a real career is desperately missing. This is actually a pet peeve of mine with racing games in general.

In terms of racing online; I've seen worse. Online racing has been a source of frustration for me at times with these games because there are so many unsafe drivers but I've also had some good experiences.

I've followed a few developers at Codemasters on Twitter over the years and from what I've gathered is that Codemasters are keen to include feeder series (and with the variety of classic cars they've clearly shown they have the capability to produce the handling models etc) but are not able to because of licensing. Hopefully with Liberty on board that shouldn't be an issue much longer and we will have a GP3/F2/F1 career mode. Since they use mostly the same tracks it makes too much sense not to IMO.

Couple of things I'd like to see in the career mode/single player. Pre season testing, full control over the car in pit stops and all the way throughout the formation laps. I want to do burnouts and pull into my grid slot on my own!

Thought this was an interesting thing to watch. Liberty seems to be backing this esports push for the game. They really do seem to get it and I think, Black_Flag_11, that you may be right about the game evolving under their watch.

If truth be told, I don't really like Codemasters much. There are 2-3 studios I would much prefer to be making the official game but I digress. If they make one that has all of those feeder categories in the career mode, I will be happy.

Played the event where I'm in Hulk's Renault at Malaysia & it starts to dry up after rain in the beginning.

I'm using a setup found on Youtube. The car is quite stable in the rain & I usually made ground in the 2nd sector. But in 1 & 3rd sectors, the AI cars should streak past by me. Even if I've got DRS & the AI car behind me hasn't got DRS, it still passes swiftly by me. This is so baffling. Because of the rain, am using medium TC & auto gears as I'm using a controller.

Can anyone suggest / guide as to why all AI cars have superior speed & traction when on a straight inspite of my DRS being open? Will be quite obliged. I'm suffering with this issue since a long time.

Youtube has saved me a lot of time with regards to setups. There are definitely a couple of channels that will get you a good baseline setup for each race (I tend to just copy them and not make any changes).

This is my thing about these Codemasters F1 games: They're not bad but I think that the career mode is a bit too simplistic. I would love to see and F1 game that includes a real career in which you start off in feeder series (or karts like in PC2) and have to earn your super license like in real life. With the FIA buying GP2 and converting it to F2 and with the coming merger of GP3 and the F3 Euroseries, I think you could easily create this. Just have karting, F3 and F2. That's all you would really need. It would be even better if they bought up a few other series like some of the Formula Renault categories and such but it would not be necessary. The ability to actually simulate a real career is desperately missing. This is actually a pet peeve of mine with racing games in general.

In terms of racing online; I've seen worse. Online racing has been a source of frustration for me at times with these games because there are so many unsafe drivers but I've also had some good experiences.

I've followed a few developers at Codemasters on Twitter over the years and from what I've gathered is that Codemasters are keen to include feeder series (and with the variety of classic cars they've clearly shown they have the capability to produce the handling models etc) but are not able to because of licensing. Hopefully with Liberty on board that shouldn't be an issue much longer and we will have a GP3/F2/F1 career mode. Since they use mostly the same tracks it makes too much sense not to IMO.

Couple of things I'd like to see in the career mode/single player. Pre season testing, full control over the car in pit stops and all the way throughout the formation laps. I want to do burnouts and pull into my grid slot on my own!

I've been saying that for years. Not just including those series, but actually allowing your success in them to impact how your career goes. Start in GP3 and if you're doing well, you might have teams approaching you to join their young driver programme, or to be associated with them as their development driver (which would result in FP1 and test appearances). Alternatively you could have sponsors becoming interested and perhaps pushing you down a different route, essentially buying your way into an F1 seat. If the F2/GP3 teams were accurate then you could have a situation where doing well for DAMS in GP3 gets you a seat with DAMS in F2.

As you say, they race mostly on the same tracks (and I'd even accept a reduced GP2/F3 campaign removing a weekend like Jerez from the season), plus they are spec cars so they would literally need to introduce two more car models and some extra liveries. Considering they have like, a dozen classic cars in this year's game, I don't see why that would be such a stretch.